71 Malaysia-bound passengers disappear after immigration at Shahjalal Airport

A total of 71 passengers mysteriously left Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport after collecting boarding passes and clearing immigration, ultimately failing to board a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight to Malaysia, raising fresh concerns over airport security and passenger screening procedures.

According to airport sources, 245 passengers were scheduled to travel on Biman flight BG-386 from Dhaka to Kuala Lumpur on Saturday night. However, when the Boeing 787 Dreamliner departed at 8:35pm, 76 passengers were absent.

Sources said the incident unfolded after officials at the boarding gate detected discrepancies between the passports and e-visa information of five passengers. Further verification reportedly raised suspicions that their Malaysian visas were forged, prompting authorities to deny them boarding.

Soon after the issue surfaced, the remaining 71 passengers, believed to be travelling with the same group, quietly left the airport and did not return to board the flight.

Preliminary findings suggest all 76 passengers were travelling on tourist visas, but investigators suspect they intended to overstay in Malaysia with the assistance of a travel agency.

Airport officials claimed the passengers had been issued boarding passes without thorough visa verification at the airline's check-in counters and were subsequently allowed to pass through immigration. The irregularities were discovered only at the final boarding gate, where the suspected fake visas were identified.

A witness said several passengers were taken aside for questioning during boarding after visa-related discrepancies emerged. Shortly afterward, other members of the group waiting in line also disappeared from the boarding area.

Another airport source said several passengers had earlier been offloaded by immigration police over visa-related concerns. Some reportedly claimed they planned to travel onward to Saudi Arabia via Malaysia to perform Umrah, but authorities questioned the credibility of their travel plans and prevented them from leaving the country.

Officials at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport declined to comment publicly on the incident. However, airport sources said the relevant authorities are preparing to launch an investigation into the security lapse and the circumstances surrounding the passengers' disappearance.